This report details the week-long sailing trip to the North Norfolk Broads, jointly undertaken by the Islington and City of London Sea Cadets units. The expedition lasted from Saturday, 28 March 2026, to the following Saturday during the first week of the Easter Holidays 2026, providing a comprehensive training and experience opportunity for the cadets involved. The aim of the trip was to provide our cadets with an opportunity to live aboard a motor vessel, navigating, operating and handling it, while building teamwork skills, life skills including catering and cleaning and to complete a wide range of modules towards their cadet training programme.
This trip has been organised by our colleagues on the City of London Sea Cadets unit for many years and has consistently shown itself to be a highlight of the cadet experience. Our cadets this year have had little or no experience away from the city, alongside handling power vessels and being away from home, so this was going to be a significant adventure for them to be away from the environment they are used to, and to experience the outdoors far more than they have done before.
OVERVIEW: The trip commenced at London Bridge on Saturday, 28 Mar 2026. 21 Cadets and 9 staff travelled by minibus convoy from London to Stalham, Norfolk. This is a significant removal from their usual environment and enabled our cadets to experience life afloat without the trappings of normal life reminding them of their challenges. Mobile phones were restricted and cadets were allowed to have them only for short periods of time each day to call home and were required to socialise without them. One cadet managed to drop his phone in the water, and while it was a dull drive home, they did report being far less worried about it than they expected to be (and their parent reported they were happy that he had learned to do without it so rapidly).
Day 1: Saturday
The journey began with the bus ride from London Bridge. The transit to Stalham was smooth, with a stop at a service station for lunch, and the cadets were eager to get on the water. Once at the boatyard, the focus was on familiarisation with the vessels and allocating watches and duties. After stowing gear and a safety brief, the fleet cast off in gusty winds for the Ant River in the late afternoon. The initial segment was designed to be rapid and really set the scene, with crews rapidly navigating a complex section into the River Ant, across Barton Broad and leading to a mooring spot at How Hill for the first night. This provided an excellent opportunity for the cadets to settle into their watches and adjust to life afloat, while very rapidly realising the challenge of navigating and communicating across the craft, which required clear and agreed terms to be effective.
They then proceeded to produce their first meal afloat, with the results being noted as ‘actually not bad considering we made it’. Cadets continued this form of cooking and cleaning as a routine on the ships, with duty watches swapping after each meal.
Day 2: Sunday
The first full day focused heavily on functional seamanship and navigation drills. Conditions were favourable with a bright windy day, allowing for continuous instruction on handling the helm, rope work, and basic navigation using charts. We rapidly made our way through the very tight confines of Ludham Bridge to St Benet’s Abbey moorings, with a smooth arrival, lunch afloat and a chance to explore the area.
They practiced coming alongside with the tide after threading the needle of the tightest bridge, which was no mean feat with a 45-foot long motor vessel under their direct control. Lunch was followed by a transit to Acle Bridge in the afternoon, rotating through helms and crews to build confidence in handling. All this was achieved with rapidly rising winds in the afternoon, making for a very challenging arrival – our cadets reported really enjoying the challenge and a chance to show off their skills. The evening was spent moored above the bridge and the group weathered a storm that arrived that evening, with chances to practice their meteorology and seamanship ensuring the vessels were protected overnight.
Day 3: Monday
Monday saw the units still battened down at Acle bridge till the storm passed over, as unfortunately the weather in Great Yarmouth was unacceptably rough for the vessels.
The cadets made use of the morning to review the vessels and repair a few minor damages caused by the storm, with the cadets also getting instruction on engine maintenance and electrical systems aboard each vessel, alongside doing classes on meteorology, seamanship, methods of instruction and catering skills.
As the ships were requiring rewatering (refill of the fresh water tanks) but the winds were too high to safely move with all the cadets aboard, a select group of older cadets and staff were tasked to move the boats through the remains of the storms’ energies into a local boatyard for watering, while the remainder of the ship’s company took a ‘hunter/gathering trip’ to a local supermarket for fresh food.
The moving of the ships were a significant challenge to their boat handling skills and the cadets are still commenting on how ‘epic’ the feeling was of successfully moving the boats in and out of the very tight quarters, despite the high winds and high stakes involved in close quarters mooring on a public quay, allowing the cadets to practice mooring techniques in front of an audience, which added a positive pressure to perform well. Comments were received from other boaters that they were ‘extremely smart and calm achieving tasks that seasoned crews would be far less effectively achieving’.
After dinner, which the cadets prepared themselves as usual, with clear up being a team activity, they were treated to a little down time and a trip to a local arcade to blow off some steam.
Day 4: Tuesday
The transit on Tuesday saw us slip anchor as soon as the winds made it possible to safely manoeuvre and we headed to Great Yarmouth Yacht Station with the cadets rotating through helms and completing some more cadet training programmes while underway, focussing on navigation and rules of the road. Once underway we were treated to seeing a range of wildlife, with the cadets being fascinated by their proximity.
The afternoon saw the cadets performing a flawless arrival in a very busy harbour at Great Yarmouth, followed by a swim at the local swimming pool – where a number of our cadets also completed their swim tests and taught others some water games. This was followed by a reported highlight of a chippy tea on the lawn, with a little free time given to them for the remainder of the afternoon, before returning via a local supermarket to resupply the ships with fresh food for the rest of the week. The cadets demonstrated excellent organisational skills and improved their communication skills with moving the supplies back and aboard the ships, before getting to their racks for some sleep.
Day 5: Wednesday
Following an adjusted plan to account for the storm, Wednesday was dedicated to exploration and a long-distance sail towards the western extent of the planned route. The primary objective was to successfully navigate a complex section of the Broads with multiple intersecting waterways, demanding accurate navigation and communication within the crews, with a brief stop at Acle bridge again for foul water pump out [which led to more practice by the cadets in close quarters communication and teamwork].
A significant milestone for the day was reaching the riverside mooring on the Bure just ahead of sundown, with a smooth arrival and rapid production of dinner and the evening spent relaxing enjoying the local wildlife, some of which spent a good chunk of the early evening riding aboard the ships as we approached our destination in the entry of South Walsham Broad.
Day 6: Thursday:
The morning was spent with a round robin of targeted sessions on the Cadet Training programme, with cadets completing classes on First Aid, Physical Training, Meteorology, Seamanship and Navigation all aimed at preparing them for promotion. We let slip by 11 and this marked the beginning of the return leg. The timing here was less structured, allowing the cadets more freedom to plan and execute their own route back, under the remote supervision of the adult staff. This shift in responsibility helped foster leadership and independent decision-making, with a stop at Horning Staithe for lunch and a chance to explore the area. This busy section of the Bure had significant water traffic and navigational challenges, with the clear teamwork being on display, handling their ships with alacrity and growing confidence.
The fleet made its way to Salhouse Broad for the evening, with a very challenging stern-to mooring being done by all crews, followed by a few hours of free time to explore the nature reserve and enjoy the local facilities. The cadets ran their ships and while unfortunately one of our cadets took a spill in the water and lost his phone in the process, he reported being very happy that the training had ensured his safety and it didn’t put a dampener on the trip at all.
The evening was given over to cadets having a little free time in the complete peace of the broad, away from the city noises and lights, enjoying the wildlife and exploring in teams. They commented they really enjoyed the chance to experience the quiet and would love to come back to spend a little longer there next time.
Day 7: Friday
The final full day of sailing focused on consolidating all the skills learned throughout the week. Maintenance checks and cleaning procedures were carried before departing Salhouse Broad, with rewatering and routine tidying in preparation for handing the boats back. We had a diversion via Malthouse Broad for lunch, reprising their stern-to mooring skills, which they demonstrated with calmness and finesse. At the end of this stop, our awards and thanks were shared to the staff and cadets for their achievements, with two being labelled ‘duty ducks’ after having gone for a dunk, (which was handled in a calm fashion). A final ‘long leg’ sail was completed, led by our craft back to Stalham boatyard, followed by a final meal prepared by the duty watch and then deep cleaning was done in preparation for returning the ships. A particular highlight was crossing Barton Broad with the cadets in full voice and loving the experience of steering their own crafts through very challenging waters, full of traffic and navigating with calm professionalism when required, and with their usual style when able to relax into it.
Day 8: Saturday
The final morning was spent returning the boats to the boatyard in Stalham. This involved a detailed inventory check and reporting any maintenance issues. Following the successful handover, the cadets and staff boarded the bus for the return journey to London Bridge, concluding an extremely successful and rewarding week on the water.
Impact – Following the trip, all our units’ cadets achieved the completion of their cadet training programme level, attaining significant proficiency in powerboat handling, 30+ hours of time afloat each, key life skills in self-sufficiency and teamwork and have developed rapidly growing leadership skills that have all resulted in their achieving the rank of Cadet First Class in well under the expected time.
The cadets’ attitudes have been noted by parents that they ‘came back and were happy to clean up, cook and take care of themselves far better than they did before’, and have all reported that they really enjoyed the trust shown in them to handle themselves and present a positive impression of teenagers from London.
The cadets are already asking if we can go again and we are looking into how this can be actioned, as the results on our cadets were so very positive and visible upon return.
With the support received from the Trust, we have been able to give our cadets and staff a level playing field in which to develop their waterborne and teamwork skills, which has been massively appreciated by parents, cadets and staff.
